Tesla stock tumbles amid new probe over fatal crash into Texas home
Automotive execs tout automated driver assistance systems like Ford BlueCruise, General Motors Super Cruise, and Tesla Full Self-Driving (Supervised) as the ultimate key to unlocking safer roads.
There were more than 40,000 motor vehicle-related deaths in 2023, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, corresponding to about 12.2 deaths per 100,000 people and 1.26 deaths per 100 million miles traveled.
Outside of drug overdoses, motor vehicles are the leading cause of unintentional deaths in the U.S., by a wide margin, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
If done right, technology that can navigate the road better than humans could save tens of thousands of lives annually. However, whether the technology has actually surpassed human driving remains to be seen, as the top autonomous driving technology faces some tough scrutiny.
That scrutiny was ratcheted up this week after the National Highway Traffic Administration opened an investigation into yet another high-profile crash involving a Tesla that reportedly had its ADAS system engaged.
NHTSA opens probe after Tesla crashes into Texas home, killing occupant
Over the weekend, a Tesla Model 3 ran off the road and across a homeowner's front lawn before crashing into the home just outside of Houston, killing a 76-year old woman who was standing inside.
The driver, who survived, told the Harris County Sheriff's Office that he was using Tesla Autopilot at the time of the crash. However, it should be noted that Tesla discontinued Autopilot earlier this year to replace it with an ADAS known as "self-driving" (not to be confused with its level-2 autonomous system Full Self-Driving).
It isn't clear what system the driver was using, if any, when the car, which witnesses say was traveling at more than 60 miles per hour, lost control, and crashed. The road on which the incident occurred has a 25-mile-per-hour limit posted online, according to Jalopnik.
The police report from the incident noted that the driver was not drunk at the time of the crash and was cooperating with police.
Footage of the incident shows the Tesla barreling down a residential street at high speed. The mother of the family living inside said the crash sounded like an explosion.
Tesla shares were down nearly 4.5% in trading at last check Tuesday morning, June 23.
Tesla execs deny Tesla FSD is at fault
While the NHTSA is still investigating, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has already commented on the incident, proclaiming on his X account that FSD could not be involved. "Yes, this makes no sense. FSD drives slowly through neighborhood streets and this was a high-speed crash!" he wrote on June 22.
Tesla's AI chief Ashok Elluswamy also took to X to defend his technology, calling the early reporting that the driver was using Tesla FSD "blatantly irresponsible reporting [that] does more harm to people than they realize."
"Using Tesla self-driving is far safer than manual driving," Elluswamy declared. "And this was measured over 10B miles."
While he seemed to confirm that self-driving was engaged, "the driver manually overrode self-driving by pressing the accelerator all the way to 100%," he said, adding that the driver had the accelerator pressed even after the crash.
Some might see that as a design flaw. Tesla wants to give its drivers the ability to override FSD and press the accelerator to 100%, but that design decision is attracting scrutiny in Europe.
Tesla FSD European Union approval faces opposition from Sweden
Tesla FSD has been approved in five European countries so far, and it appears headed for fast-track European Union approval as soon as Q1 2027.
However, the technology is also facing tough scrutiny, with at least one of Sweden's transportation regulatory bodies recommending that the nation become one of the highest-profile opposers of Tesla's FSD dreams in Europe.
The Swedish Transport Administration (TRV) sent a letter recommending that Tesla FSD (Supervised) not be approved for the European Union unless the system's ability to ignore speed limits is removed, Reuters confirmed, citing a previously unreported letter obtained through a freedom of information request.
The TRV sent the letter, dated April 30, to the EU's Technical Committee on Motor Vehicles, which is scheduled to reconvene on June 30 to discuss Tesla's approval ahead of a later official vote.
Tesla FSD offers a "Speed Offset" setting that lets users exceed posted speed limits by a margin the driver sets. But "allowing automated systems to systematically exceed legal speed limits… risks undermining both the legal framework and the expected safety benefits of vehicle automation," according to the letter.
"Failing this (limiting ‘speed offset'), the Swedish Transport Administration recommends that TCMV vote against the proposed introduction," the letter said, according to Reuters.
If Elluswamy is correct, and the driver in this instance overrode his ADAS system, Sweden has a prime example of the dangers of allowing the system to function as is on European roads.
Related: Tesla headed for its biggest fight in Europe yet
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This story was originally published June 23, 2026 at 12:13 PM.